Settling in to Shreveport

I have been trying to sit down and post for over a week now and I've just been so busy and had so much going on with trying to settle in, I just haven't had the time. I've also had my list of things to do to get a new layout and change the "look" of the blog since we are no longer in Scotland. I will hopefully get that done later this week.

So the first week in Shreveport hasn't been that bad. I've been busy, house hunting and just trying to get settled in a little and getting over jet lag! But it's been a productive first week. I found a house. Jeff is working in West Virginia so he looked at houses with me online. We are just waiting on final financing stuff and hopefully get a closing day for mid August. Underwriting is taking a little bit right now, so we are just hopeful it will be sooner rather than later. The house is great and I think it'll be a great home for Jeff and I for some time to come, or as long as we are in Shreveport/Bossier City.

Adjusting to the weather hasn't been that bad. It's hot here, please don't get me wrong and humid but I really thought I would have a lot harder time acclimating back than I have had. I'm not ready to go run a marathon in the weather but I can get out and about, do things and not mind it so much. It does rain here often right now, but the kind of Southern rainy days where it down pours for 15 to 30 minutes and then it's just hot and more humid than it was before it started raining. I guess some rain is better than no rain though. I will admit when we get that afternoon shower I am less tolerate of the heat and humidity.

Our sea shipment is well on its way and our air shipment arrived last week. I can't wait to get the car back and be a bit more free to go as I please. Of course last week I had a rental car and I hit some of my favorite missed spots like Super Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and I even got to the nail place for a pedicure and manicure. And my most favorite thing was getting to my old hair stylist in Tyler and getting my hair cut and colored. I know this must all sounds superficial but it's the things like this that I don't need but it's sure nice to have when you've not had it in a long time. I also got to see some of my Tyler peeps! And the food.........oh man......I had Mexican food last week and I it was fab! And I got my Chic-fila fix too! I'm looking forward to Jeff being home soon and getting a chance to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast one morning for some real hash browns and then to get some yummy cajun food! Yes, I'm probably going to gain weight before I lose weight. lol

So we are settling in and the fur kids are doing great. House hunting has been a success and I am thankful for that. I can't wait to get completely settled in and I am hoping to find a job soon too.

I promise to post pictures soon, I just want to get a chance to get settled in and then I'll hopefully get some pictures of the house posted as well as some pictures of various Shreveport/Bossier City things.

Moving Day

Well moving day is upon us and as I sit here typing this out the movers are here packing things up. Seems I'm not doing my part if I am on the computer and they are working, huh? Well.........truth is, this is the part where I get to sit back and relax a bit. Jeff and I have spent weeks preparing for this move. You pack what you don't want packed, you sell off the things you don't want to take, you make an inventory list and you make more list of things that you need to do like turning off utilities and calling the many people to let them know of your new address, etc. Then you separate all the things you want to go by air and you pack your bags for your trip so those things don't get packed in the sea shipment. Your life belongings get all wrapped up and packed away and they load them up to ship and it takes about 6 weeks for you to get your stuff. For Jeff and I this also means the car........it goes by sea too and arrives in 6 weeks with all our household belongs. And the thing is, to most this probably seems like not such a big deal, any of it, because after all someone else is doing the actual packing and loading and unpacking. But it's all the prep and the various things that you have to do special for an international move that make it a bit more stressful.

But the good news is that short of cleaning this place up tomorrow when they are done.........this part of the move will be behind us and my part is done for now. Of course once my feet hit the ground in the U.S. the search will be on for a home. Hopefully we find something quick and something that we like and can be ready to move into in 6 weeks.......when our stuff arrives.

This will be my last blog from Bonnie Scotland. I've enjoyed my time here, but that's not to say it hasn't had its trial and tribulations. The winter here was not that great but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The summers here are fabulous and I dread the hot Louisiana summer. But I am looking forward to getting back to the states and settling there. I will miss the friends I have made here but I hope to stay in close contact. And the one thing I can tell you that I will not miss about Scotland..................those dang spiders all in my house! lol

See you all on the flip side!

Summer days

I've been trying to spend my last days in Scotland enjoying the mild summer weather and soaking up as much time with my friends here as I can. I think back to a year ago this time and I couldn't wait for the moment to get to go home. But over this past year I've developed some great friendships and learned to appreciate my surroundings. The friends I have made I hope to keep for a lifetime and the appreciation I have developed for Scotland I hope to take with me on to any place I ever live and give each place the same sort of appreciation.

The weather here has been pretty great lately. We've had mostly sunny days, though a bit windy at times and temperatures around the upper 60's. We did have some rain on Sunday and it actually came with thunder, which is some thing I have only heard one other time since I've been here.

So I hope to get some more pictures up this week. I am hoping to get out to hike tomorrow and hopefully snap a few great pictures along the way. It will probably be my last hike here, so hopefully the weather will hold up!

Our Last weekend together in Scotland

View of Dunnattor Castle from the trail to the War Memorial

Just a little over a year ago I arrived in Scotland for the first time. I arrived on a Thursday and that weekend Jeff and I spent our first weekend together in Scotland. We went to the movies and we went to Dunnattor Castle in Stonehaven and sat out on the cliff, and toured the castle. We also said that one weekend we'd go back and hike up to the war memorial that is about a mile away from the castle. So we figured this being our last weekend together in Scotland that it would be appropriate to spend our last weekend in Scotland together, very similar to our first weekend in Scotland together.

Saturday we went to the movies and had dinner in Aberdeen. Seen the movie Killers and it was actually pretty good, funny and cute. Then we had a great Italian meal afterwards......finished off the evening out by stopping by Starbucks on our way out to take a coffee to go for the ride home.

Sunday we decided to finally make that hike to the war memorial near the castle in Stonehaven. It was a beautiful day, a bit windy and breezy but the sun was shining and it was only about 70 degrees. A typical summer day in Scotland.

Sail boats in Stonehaven

View of Stonehaven from the War Memorial

There were several sail boats in the water in Stonehaven taking advantage of the wind and the beautiful day. Lots of people on the trail to the war memorial too. So glad we got to do that before we left!

The War Memorial in Stonehaven to honor those that fought in the wars of the UK that are from the Stonehaven area

Inside, as you walk through the gate

And of course we finished off the day with Jeff's last dinner of fish and chips from the Bervie Chipper! Great weekend!

The direction of the blog.........

I've been pondering for the last week or so what direction to take the blog into next, if at all. We are moving away from Scotland and so the "adventure" of living in Scotland, traveling about Europe is coming to an end. So do I continue blogging but blog about every day life in our new home? Do I start a whole new blog on a different page? Or do I end the blog on the note of the last few weeks of living in Scotland?

I would like to think that when we get settled into our new home that I would have time to blog, at least occasionally, but I just am not sure if blogging about everyday American life, along with working again will be of interest to very many?! I can say that I know the adventures are not over, but they might just not be as interesting to those that have enjoyed reading about Scotland.

And so I ponder, wondering what direction the blog will go in next or if it ends when I leave Scotland.

Any thoughts?

A wee conversation at the bus stop

While waiting on the bus today I had a wee conversation with an elderly (Scottish) man. I was listening to my ipod while waiting and he was standing next to me. This is how the conversation went........

Scot: You must be listening to something good!

Me: (nodding my head) Rascal Flatts today

Scot: WHO?

Me: Rascal Flatts........country music?!?

Scot: what kind of music is that?

Me: Ummmm........country.......kind of low key......but good beat

Scot: like Johnny Cash

Me: (chuckling) yeah sort of.....but newer band, a little more upbeat than Johnny Cash

Scot: I gather from your accent you aren't from around here. You on holiday?

Me: I'm from America, Texas to be exact and no, I'm not on holiday, I live here now.

Scot: Yeah? Where abouts do you live around here?

Me: Bervie

Scot: Ah I see......nice village. How long you lived here?

Me: a year and a half so far

Scot: What brings you to this side of the pond?

Me: My husbands job

Scot: How long do you get to stay?

Me: We have a two year contract

Scot: But then you get to sign again and stay longer, yeah, cause you want to stay longer, yeah?

Me: We'll see.

Scot: Oh why......you don't want to stay?

Me: Well it's not that, we just have to see what comes up next.

Scot: I see. It's a gorgeous day.........yeah?

Me: Beautiful day! Well there is my bus, I must run.

Scot: Oh, what bus is that for?

Me: Montrose

Scot: Oh that's me too.

My thoughts.................'crap this guy is gonna talk to me all the way home'. lol

But he got on the bus, sat toward the back and I guess enjoyed his ride to Montrose.

Just a wee conversation with what was really a nice Scottish man. This is often a typical day out and about in the smaller villages when I am by myself. People strike up conversations with me, hear my accent...........and then it's all about how we came about being here.
One day I stepped into a shop to buy a couple of things and when I checked out the lady struck up a conversation with me because of my accent and it took me 30 more minutes to politely tell her I had to go and thank her for my purchase. The Scots are really very nice people and always like to talk about the weather!

London Weekend

Wednesday before last Jeff comes home from work, stands in front of me as I am typing away on my computer and says he wants to take me to London for the weekend. As I looked up from the computer I am sure my expression said "Your crazy" but really before I could say anything else he went on to say it was as good as a weekend and any. So he sat down at his computer, booked first class train tickets down to London and a hotel for three nights. Wooo whooo!

Trip down was fantastic! That's the first time either of us have taken the train like that. It was really nice, relaxing and a great way to travel, see the country side as you go down and not have the pressure of being in a hurry, airport security and not having to drive yourself.

We got on the tube in London and got off right near our hotel. As we were coming out of the tube I could see The London Eye. And as we got closer to the hotel I realized that it was right next to it. And wouldn't you know, you could see it from our hotel room window!
Across the bridge from our hotel was Big Ben.

The London Eye. The building right next to it was our hotel

Big Ben

And right down the road from Big Ben was Westminster Abbey. As soon as we got settled into our hotel we walked to both and seen signs for Buckingham Palace so we kept walking. It was less than two miles away I would say. So we walked around the area outside the Palace gates and scooped out where we wanted to be on Sunday when we'd see the changing of the guards. After a stroll back through the park we went back to the hotel and had dinner.

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Saturday morning we got up and had an early start. We wanted to grab breakfast and get on the tube and head over to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. We got there a little earlier than we thought so we had to wait for them to open. So we strolled around a bit and found another great park, Hyde Park and sat and watched the ducks swim in the pond and the London joggers run by.

Madame Tussuad's was really neat! I think it was probably the highlight of the trip for me. We seen a lot of "celebrities" in there but it was just interesting to see how they do it and how detailed they get. Every one of the wax figures looked realistic and to full size. Just amazing. We also went to a 4D Marvel show they had and it was top notch! The special effects were awesome! So much so that when Spiderman gets thrown into the fountain at Buckingham Palace, the seat in front of you mist you too...........as if you were standing right there and got a little water on ya! Lots of little things like that made it worth every penny to see. So if you find yourself there and have the opportunity......definitely check it out!

I had to take a picture of Edward for my Twilight peeps

Jeff and George W. Bush

After that we headed over to Baker Street and visited the famous 221B Baker Street Flat. Three stories high and looking on the inside as it did back them.........Sherlock Holmes home. Neat place! It's very small and cramped as you go up the three stories..........but very similar to how so many flats are still in size here.

Sherlock Holmes living room

We had a lunch in an English Pub and then set out to hop back on the tube and go over to the Tower of London. You know I wish I could rave on and on about it but honestly.......once you've seen one castle or similar place, you feel as if you've seen them all. It was neat to see the Beefeater's and the Crown Jewels, but other than that.......the main thing to see there to me was the Tower Bridge which many of us refer to as the London Bridge.

A guard in front of the building where they house the Crown Jewels

A beefeater. We thought they were all male, but apparently not

Tower Bridge, or as I called it London Bridge, and I was corrected

Sunday morning we set out a bit later but early enough to go by 10 Downing Street (which was a big let down) and then on to see changing of the guards. We walked by the place where changing of the guards starts and we were getting there just in time. So we stopped there and seen the beginning of it and then we walked on through the park and went up to the palace to find a spot to sit and wait for the rest of it at the palace. Very interesting. I would say that a trip to London wouldn't be complete without seeing the changing of the guards just because that's what you are suppose to see. But it wasn't quite all I thought it would be. Still......I am thankful I got the opportunity to see it.

Changing of the Guard (the part that wasn't at the palace)

Changing of the Guard

Then really, the highlight of the trip for me was the chance to take a tour out to Stonehenge. I don't know why but I've always wanted to go out to see it. I had booked a tour to go out and see it as soon as Jeff said we were going to London. It's a ways away from London, probably about two hours but it was so worth it to me. Many of my friends have said, "its just a bunch of stones in the ground.......no big deal to see". But it really was something for me to see and I was really not disappointed at all. We spent about an hour out there, just walking around and listening to the story of the stones and all the myths and legends behind them. It was a great way to end our trip!

Stonehenge

After our tour we set back to London, had dinner and retired back to the hotel to gather up our things for the trip home and rest.

No photo album of London is complete with out a picture of a red phone booth

Monday morning we set out on the train home. Awesome weekend! My husband rocks!

Monte Carlo Monaco.....Part 5 (the final part)

Last port on the cruise before heading back to Barcelona was Nice, France. Since it neighbors Monaco we opted to take an excursion to Monte Carlo to see the world famous Aquarium and walk the Palace grounds.

The port where we dock is really the prettiest port! We had no real dock to dock at, so they anchor in the bay area and you take a tender boat to shore from the cruise ship. Jeff and I had an excursion that didn't leave until around 1:00, so we were able to eat breakfast on the ship and enjoy the beautiful view.

The view from the cruise ship

Another view from the ship

So we headed to shore and got on a bus to head to Monaco. Beautiful curvy roads that leave France and head into Monaco. The weather that day was great too, so no rain and lots of sunshine.
Monaco is really where the "other half" lives. Amazing in beauty and you can just tell everywhere you look that only the richest can afford to live there. The bay area is filled with yachts and the palace grounds overlook the city. The Grand Prix was to start the weekend after our cruise so they were set up for Grand Prix already and we got to see the stands lining the streets and all the signage. And even though a lot of the roads were blocked off we were able to ride the bus along a short route of it and experience the narrow and curvy roads.

Our first stop was the aquarium. Jeff and I had really been looking forward to seeing it. Boy was I a bit disappointed. It's a nice building to see and there is a lot of nice things in the museum but it's just not what I thought it would be. Lots of tanks filled with blue formaldehyde that encased dead animals like doves, sharks and even a sheep slip in half so you could see the inside! They call this ART! And we were told that no pictures were allowed. The place was filled with security and it was impossible to enjoy the parts that were nice. Our guide wasn't great that day and she took us all over the museum part and then only allowed us about 20 minutes to enjoy the aquarium and the fish. But we did see a HUGE sea turtle!

The artist advertised on the banner is the one that does all the dead animals in formaldehyde

Monaco Aquarium, main entrance

This was also outside the aquarium. Kind of creepy if you ask me!

Our next stop was the cathedral in Monaco where Grace Kelly is laid to rest. Beautiful cathedral!

The cathedral in Monaco

We walked along the Palace grounds and got to overlook the city down below. We were suppose to go by the Grand Casino but there is some construction and such going on there so we didn't actually end up going by. But Monaco is really beautiful and the gardens surrounding the area are beautiful as well. I wish we would have got to see Nice too or went to Cannes as well but we just didn't have enough time to do both and we really wanted to see the aquarium. I think in hindsight, had we known what the aquarium was going to be like, we would have opted to take a different tour. BUT it was really neat to see Grand Prix area while it's set up and it was really nice to see the harbor area.

Overlooking part of the harbor from the palace grounds. You can see the blue stands for Grand Prix

The harbor from the palace grounds

The palace in Monaco where Prince Albert lives

Some of the beautiful gardens in Monaco

All in all the cruise was really nice. We had a great time and we made a new friend on board. We really enjoyed Barcelona too. I couldn't have been happier with the opportunity to see Italy.

So that's it for the cruise. I guess now I have to find something new to blog about!

Pizza....I mean Pisa anyone? Part 4

We spent our last full day in Italy in Pisa and Tuscany. Wow.....beautiful country. Again, like most ports there, it's not pretty until you get away from the port a bit. But once you get away form the port......wow! It was a rainy morning in Pisa and the skies were filled with gray and gloomy clouds. That didn't stop us though, or our hike from the bus parking lot to Pisa's town center. Of course we did get bombarded again with men trying to sell us umbrellas. Beautiful umbrellas with scenes of Pisa on them. I would have bought one had I not been so completely annoyed at their persistence and unwillingness to just let us be for a moment.

On the rainy bus trip we could see Pisa in the distance

Jeff and I had seen a show on the Leaning Tower of Pisa just weeks before our trip. The long years of efforts for them to try and stabilize it has continued on. But in recent years you are actually able to go up in the tower if you'd like. Let me just say that after watching a show about all the efforts to stabilize it, along with going against everything I know and understand on structural engineering............I don't feel it's part of my lives ambition to go up in the Leaning Tower. So we choose a tour that would take us to see it, but not go into it. And it was great! We got a nice little tour around the Pisa square and were told about all the different buildings and their architecture. Personally I couldn't take my eyes off the leaning tower because it's just amazing to me that it's still standing after all these years. Pisa is a small little place and you can see the whole place in a matter of minutes. We spent a few hours there and learned that Pisa was where Pinocchio originated. There were tons of little Pinocchio's all over the place for sale.

That bush growing in the wall is the bush that capers grow on!

Pisa, Italy

The basilica in Pisa

The basilica had these beautiful "3D" doors

I wish there was a lot more to say about Pisa but what we set out to accomplish was to say we had seen it and take some pictures. Mission accomplished!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The top of Pisa and the bells

So that afternoon we set out for wine tasting in Tuscany. Ever seen "Under the Tuscan Sun"..........beautiful Tuscany hill sides covered in olive trees and grape vines and houses that look just like what you think every Italian house looks like?! THAT is really what Tuscany was like for me. The winery/B&B we visited reminded me of a setting in a movie about Tuscany! We had another great tour guide that was informative but knew we were all there to taste some wine and enjoy it and he let us be. He did tell us something that had never occurred to me. Biscotti is their word for biscuit, or in our case, cookie. So it refers to a much more brood array of "cookies" than what we refer to as biscotti. Jeff and I bought some chocolate and nut biscotti and it was FAB! Soft and more bread like than it was crunchy and firm like the stuff I have tried in the states. And we tasted some great wines that were made right there. Along with olive oil and olives from the trees that are there as well. It was wonderful! We bought a bottle of wine and brought it back with us. Hoping that we can hang on to it for a while and it will make the trip back to the states with us one day.

The beautiful view from the vineyard

The vineyard on a cloudy, rainy Tuscany day

Our time in Tuscany flew by quick. But it was a nice relaxing day and we had so much fun. I only wish we could have spent a little more time there.

Loved this little sign as we were walking into the wine cellar

Final stop..............Nice and Monaco!
To be continued.....................

When in Rome........Part 3

Next stop was Rome! Oh how I have dreamed of seeing Rome. I don't know what it is about Rome that fascinates me but I have just always looked forward to seeing Rome. It was, hands down my favorite stop on the cruise. Jeff and I had said all along that he really wanted to see Vatican City and I REALLY wanted to walk through the Sistine Chapel. Again I go back to me studying art and architecture in college and I never dreamed I'd get a chance to walk through the Sistine Chapel and see Michelangelo's work in person. So when we were looking at excursions Jeff found one that took us to Vatican City and also did a walking tour through Sistine Chapel. We were torn the whole time because as much as we wanted to see Vatican City we also wanted to see the Colosseum. But we decided that we'd rather see Vatican City and that we'd have to try and go back one day to see the Colosseum.

It was a bit overcast that day and raining and sprinkling on and off. It was warm though........probably in the upper 60's. We weren't bothered with the weather much though. But one thing you will learn about Italy is that the peddlers are deep and VERY persistent. I think in every place we went we were greeted by half of dozen peddlers as soon as we got off the bus trying to sell us umbrellas. They don't just stop with a simple "no" either. And we were deeply warned about pick pockets in Italy too. Thankfully we weren't bothered by anyone and no one we knew in the group was either.

When we set off that morning on our tour we got a pleasant surprise as the tour guide let us know that we were going to be stopping for a restroom break before we went to the Colosseum. At first I was wondering if we were on the wrong tour but then she went on to say after that we'd be on to lunch and then Vatican City. So yay........we were gonna get to see it all.

The Colosseum

Our tour guide was really awesome! She's an archaeologist that works in Vatican City and two days a week she does tours. Yay for us because she had A LOT of knowledge and told us things I never knew. She was a real treat to have as a tour guide. She took us to the Colosseum and while she gave us some free time she spent a lot of time telling us about the Colosseum and just painting a picture of how life was back then. She told us that the various tiers of the stadium was based on where you ranked in society and women and children were not allowed to sit with the men. So the men sat at the bottom, women and children on the second tier and then slaves and servants on the very top. Of course the emperor had his own area. It's amazing to me that the Colosseum is still standing to this day.
She told us that they had a concert there last year and she said the sounds from the singer literally caused parts of the walls to fall down. So it's under constant moderating to make sure that it remains stable and safe.

Inside the Colosseum

See where part of the wall is missing at the top and you see the rock, that's where the walls started coming down after the concert

They teased us with a drive by Vatican City on the way to our restaurant for lunch. But we went on to a great lunch of Italian pasta, dessert and coffee. Italian coffee is REALLY good. And you all know how much I love my coffee!
So after a good lunch the sun came out and we set off to Vatican City. I can't say enough positive things about our tour guide and I wish I had the time to tell you all the wonderful history she shared with us. But since I can't, I'll try and focus on some of the highlights and tell you about the visit.

Vatican City

She spent a great deal of time talking about Michelangelo's time in the Sistine Chapel. She said that the Pope back then was an emperor type in that he told people what he wanted and he didn't ask. So at that time the Sistine Chapel's ceiling was blue and had kind of little stars on it. The Pope didn't like it and so he called Michelangelo there to paint the ceiling. He told Michelangelo he had three weeks to paint it. Michelangelo told him that he couldn't possibly paint it in three weeks that he'd need that long to decide what to paint because he was a sculpture, not a painter. The Pope told him not his problem and he had three weeks. So Michelangelo prepared and locked himself inside with scaffolding and he began his work. He was locked in there for five years! So when he was finally done he came out and the Pope came in and he said to him it was "okay". But he refused to pay Michelangelo. And Michelangelo ask him why he wouldn't pay him when he'd practically blinded himself painting and spent five years never coming out. The Pope reminded him of telling him he had three weeks to paint it and he took longer, so therefore he was not going to pay him. And so Michelangelo was never paid for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
When the Pope decided he wanted him to paint the wall that has Judgment Day on it, again he called Michelangelo. This time Michelangelo locked himself in and it took him 4 years to paint it. He painted it in such a way that the good people and the people that would be delivered to heaven are on the right and the bad people and the people that were doomed to an eternity in hell are painted on the left. The Pope is painted on the left for never paying him.

A VERY small fraction of the sculptures inside the hallways

I wish I could have taken pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. But unfortunately there is no pictures allowed, even without a flash. However you can take pictures in the hallways leading up to it and they are remarkable. Our tour guide studied under the man that did the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel years ago. And inside they left a spot that has been untouched and it's amazing how much they were able to clean and restore. That one spot is practically black. She said that he said while he was up there that there were paintings where the hand alone was bigger than his face. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around being able to paint something to that scale. Even when I seen some of the large paintings at the Louvre I thought the same thing.

Beautiful mosaic flooring in the areas of the hallways

Just a small part of the ceilings inside Vatican City's hallways

One of the many hallways leading up to the Sistine Chapel

This is the rotunda of as you turn to go into the Sistine Chapel

So from the Sistine Chapel we headed to St Peter's Basilica and got to go inside and take a few pictures and just marvel at it's beauty. The area to the crypts is secure but I tried to take a picture peering down to the door and it was very difficult to get a good shot. The area going down is very beautiful and it's got lots of red velvet and brass and gold trimmings.
And I couldn't help but take a picture of the Swiss Guards in Vatican City.

The door into St Peter's Basilica. All those that pass through it, sins are forgiven

At first glance inside St Peter's. It's huge and there is so much to see and not enough time to take pictures of it all

One of many sculptures inside

The door to the crypts

A view of Vatican City square from St Peter's Basilica

It was an amazing day! I really think that Rome is my favorite place that I have got to visit and see history in all my travels so far. It was not only a treat to see it but it was a treat to have such a great tour guide.

Swiss Guards

The to the right of St Peter's, where you see the small square atop of the roof is the Sistine Chapel and that is the famous chimney that the people await the white smoke when a new Pope is determined

Next will be Pisa and Tuscany!
To be continued.................